IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is the real-time chat system. It’s the chat system most commonly used by the highly active parts of the eRep population. In the eUS, the top 5 parties, military branches, SEAL Team 6 (the top militia in the country), Congress, and the Executive all have one or more IRC channels. It’s an important form of communication, and usually a quicker way to get things done than through forums or in-game PMs.

GETTING ON IRC & REGISTERING AN ACCOUNT

The main network used by eRep players is the Rizon network. For those of you new to IRC (which you probably are if you’re reading this), the simplest way to connect is Rizon’s own qwebirc software.

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For your nickname, try to use your eRep name (note: spaces aren’t allowed in nicks, so if there is a space in yours, use an underscore instead (example: Agent_Washington)).

For the channel you want to join, check the “Useful channels” list later in this article. Those are all public, relatively newb-friendly channels.

From here, you can just start chatting if you want. But you may want to register your nickname, which would stop other people from being able to take it.

Now you have a registered name! Each time you log on with that nickname, you will have to enter the password. There’s two ways to do this if you’re using qwebirc. The first is to check the box that says “Identify to NickServ” on the connection page, then enter your password (see picture above). The other, more general, way is the identify command:

To identify: /msg nickserv identify password

BASIC COMMANDS

Besides just registering and identifying, there are a number of useful commands to learn to make IRC use easier.

To change your nickname on IRC (you can change it to anything not registered or currently in use): /nick newname

To group different nicknames (this means linking them to the name you registered with, like I have Fi|afk and Fi|writing_article grouped with Fionia): /msg nickserv group yourname yourpassword

To list the different names you have grouped: /msg nickserv glist

To join a channel: /join #channelname

To reset your password if you forget it (or if you accidentally type it in a public channel); this will send an email to the email you registered with: /msg nickserv resetpass nickname

To send a private message to someone: /query theirname message

To see whether somebody is online or what channels they’re in: /whois theirname

To see when somebody was last in a channel (only works if you have at least voice (see below) and they are on the access list): .seen theirname

ACCESS LEVELS

Each channel has its own rules for who gets access, but here’s a basic overview of what access levels mean.

Voice: If the channel is moderated (also known as muted), you can talk. You can also use the .seen command mentioned above.

Half-op: Can kick and/or ban people with voice and no access, and in some channels can kick other halfops. Can change the topic of a channel.

Op: Can do everything half-ops can, plus being able to kick/ban other ops. Their greet will show up when they enter the channel (in most channels).

Admin: Same benefits as op, plus they can kick/ban all users except other admins and the channel owner. Cannot be kicked except by the channel owner. Can add people to the akick (auto-kick) list. Can add people to the access list.

Owner/Founder: Can kick anyone, has access to all channel configuration options.

There’s more IRC clients than those listed below, but these are the ones that most eRep players use and are comfortable with.

Mibbit: The simplest to use besides qwebirc, also looks better than qwebirc. It’s another web-based client, so it doesn’t require downloading and installing other software. It’s my personal favorite because I can keep all my eRep info in one browser window this way.

X-Chat: X-Chat is a stable and highly customizable IRC client with a basic, clean, and utilitarian appearance. Available for Mac OS, Windows and Linux systems that supports multiple IRC servers. description by Hadrian X

Chatzilla: An add-on for Firefox. “It doesnt throw me off IRC when I don’t want it to, saves whatever channels i want to autojoin, and has a script to auto identify myself. I can put in other scripts to autojoin pw protected rooms. It’s colorful.” Andy Costello

mIRC: A Windows-only client. Its main distinguishing feature is an advanced scripting language. Available for a 30-day free trial, then $20 after that. “Well, its not the prettiest of versions, but it is very slim and not cumbersome. Has a very good script feature (auto-rejoin, auto-join on invite and things like that). Its my favorite, I've tried them all.” Vanek26

KVIrc: KVIrc lets you customize your IRC experience visually. It uses windows instead of tabs for channels and private messages. There's even a special feature you can turn on that assigns every nickname a color and background. This makes it a lot easier to recognize people faster, especially if you like color-coding. description by Zyria

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